"Uuugh…"
Arthur's eyelids trembled slightly, then he opened his strange blue eyes. But his vision was blurry, clouded by a sharp headache.
He slowly shook his head and groaned, "Ah… what happened?"
It took him a few seconds to clear his mind. When he did, his surroundings became clear—a damp, dim cave, with a little light sneaking in from a small opening ahead.
Arthur's eyes widened in panic. "What…? Where am I? What is this place?"
Without wasting a moment, he stood up and headed toward the cave's entrance, desperate to understand what was happening.
The moment he stepped outside, he was met with the sight of a forest filled with tall, dense trees.
This only increased his shock. Hesitating, he took a step back, but suddenly froze in place—something felt wrong with his body.
He bent his head and looked at his hands. But instead of the human hands he expected, with palms and five fingers, he found himself staring at a wild animal's paws, covered in fur and tipped with sharp claws.
"WTF" Panic gripped him so hard that his mind went blank. He stood frozen for a few seconds.
When he managed to regain a bit of composure, he slowly turned to examine his body—and realized he had transformed into a wolf with dark-gray fur.
"This… this is a dream. I'm dreaming. I have to wake up!"
He raised his paw, trying to slap himself awake, but his new limbs didn't move the way he wanted.
Arthur was just a normal 22-year-old young man from Earth with a very routine life, so transforming into a wolf was illogical to him, and he couldn't easily accept it.
Yet, he managed to handle it with some composure.
He stayed calm, and it didn't take him long to confirm that he wasn't dreaming.
After examining his body again, he furrowed his brow in frustration and cursed,
"Damn this… what the hell is happening? I was just at my home, so why am I in this damn forest… and why am I an animal?"
Unfortunately, because he had transformed into a wolf, all his words came out as mere growls.
Ding!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange voice echoed in his head, followed by a transparent blue screen appearing before him.
[Login Successful]
[You have received a Login Package]
[Open the Package? Yes / No]
Involuntarily, he stumbled back in panic—but the screen followed him, sticking to his eyes, refusing to leave his sight.
"This…?"
Since Arthur was a modern young man who had read plenty of web novels, he immediately understood what he was looking at.
"A system notification? Is this even possible?"
Without hesitation, he said firmly, yet cautiously, "Open the package."
At that moment, the screen changed color. A golden gift icon appeared, shaking as its cover opened.
[Congratulations!]
[You have obtained a Rare Skill: Evaluation]
[You have obtained a Common Skill: Enhanced Senses]
[You have obtained a Rare Skill: Dimensional Storage]
[You have obtained a Mythic Skill: Primal Predator]
"Skills? This really is just like the web novels I used to read."
After staring at the system screen for a few seconds, his doubts finally faded.
"Tsk… so everything is real.I really became a wolf. Wait—does that mean I died in my original world? But I don't remember anything like that happening.
I wasn't hit by a truck, and I wasn't struck by lightning either."
It was all too confusing, but he decided not to dwell on it for too long.
He took a deep breath, then asked the system the question that bothered him the most.
"System, can you return me to my human form?"
[ … ]
As expected, he received no response. But he didn't feel discouraged.
Thanks to the experience he gained from reading countless web novels, he knew that systems rarely answered anything beyond basic commands.
So he changed the type of question he asked.
"System, show me my personal status and my Attributes, or whatever they're called."
This time, the system reacted to his command, and a new screen appeared, displaying his personal information along with several other details.
[ — Status — ]
Name: Arthur Grafton
Race: Wolf?
Rank: F
XP: 0 / 200
HP: 78 / 80
Mana: 0 / 0
Evolution Points: 0
[ — Basic Attribute — ]
Strength: 8
Endurance: 7
Speed: 7
Agility: 5
Vitality: 8
Perception: 10
Mana Control: 0
[ — Skills — ]
Primal Predator (SS)
Dimensional Storage (D)
Evaluation (D)
Enhanced Senses (F)
— — —
When Arthur read his status screen, he was surprised at first. Then he smiled—though with his mouth full of sharp fangs, his smile looked quite strange.
Sigh!
"It's not that bad, I guess. At least I got a System and some unique skills in exchange for giving up my humanity," he mocked himself.
With renewed enthusiasm, he began analyzing his personal information. Based on his experience, he understood everything easily.
"It seems there are ranks and magic in this world. Well, that's not really surprising, considering what happened to me.
Just like in games, I can Rank Up by collecting XP.. I'll assume Rank F is the weakest, so I need to handle things very carefully. Who knows what kind of dangers exist in this place?"
A serious look appeared on his face as he carefully examined his surroundings. Once he confirmed there was no immediate danger, his expression relaxed a little.
"Becoming a wolf wasn't part of my plans, but I have to adapt to my new form. More importantly, I need to increase my strength."
He nodded in agreement with his own thoughts, summoned the System screen again, and focused on reading the information about the Mythic skill he had obtained—since it was the thing that interested him the most.
[ Primal Predator (SS): A primitive hunting instinct that turns its user into a cold-blooded predator who knows no mercy.
— Effects —
-Thirst for blood
-Significant increase in focus, ferocity, and instincts
-Gain additional XP when consuming prey
-15% chance to acquire one of the skills of the prey you hunt
-When HP drops below 10%, all basic stats increase by 50% for 15 seconds ]
– – –
The Primal Predator skill was truly amazing—worthy of being a Mythic skill.
However, there was one problem that made Arthur frown and feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Damn… does this mean my meals from now on will just be raw meat? Disgusting."
Just thinking about it made him feel a bit nauseous.
Unfortunately, he had no other real options.
He was forced to suppress his pride as a former human and embrace his new life as a ferocious predator.